Gleeson College Curriculum Guide 2026 - Middle Years | 11 Year 7 Subjects Welcome Learning at Gleeson College Gleeson Staff Contacts Year 7 Overview Subjects Year 8 Overview Subjects Year 9 Overview Subjects LEARNING SUMMARY: Students begin learning to speak, listen, read, and write in Japanese through interactive activities, with an initial focus on the hiragana alphabet. Using modelled and rehearsed language, students start to express their own ideas in familiar situations. Students experiment with sounds, build vocabulary, and develop knowledge of Japanese word order, gradually learning grammar such as particles, adjectives, verb tenses, and polite forms. Students apply this knowledge in simple spoken and written texts about themselves and their lives. They also explore cultural topics like food and family, comparing Japanese and Australian customs and values. ASSESSMENT: Students demonstrate their learning through oral tasks, reading and writing tasks, and cultural investigations. JAPANESE LANGUAGE LEARNING AREA: English LENGTH: Full Year SELECTION: By invitation LEARNING SUMMARY: Students develop foundational literacy skills, including knowledge of parts of speech, sentence structure, and single paragraph construction. The course content is delivered through explicit instruction to support students in building strong literacy foundations and expressing themselves through coherent writing. These skills enhance their ability to communicate effectively and benefit learning across all subject areas. Entry into this subject is by invitation only, and replaces study of Italian or Japanese ASSESSMENT: This is a non-graded subject. Feedback on student achievement is provided via regular progress checks. MATHEMATICS LEARNING AREA: Languages LENGTH: Full Year SELECTION: Elective LEARNING SUMMARY: Students develop their mathematical understanding, fluency, problem-solving, and reasoning skills, building their confidence in applying mathematics to applied and abstract situations. Key topics include number, fractions and decimals, the language of algebra, percentage and ratio, solving one and two step equations, introduction to exponents, measurement with 2D and 3D shapes, plotting linear relationships, geometry focusing on angle properties, statistics calculating measures of centre and graphical representations, and probability of chance experiments. The course encourages logical thinking and effective strategies for solving a wide range of mathematical problems. ASSESSMENT: Students demonstrate their learning through tests and mathematical investigations. LEARNING AREA: Mathematics LENGTH: Full Year SELECTION: Compulsory